
My academic interest is global pediatric surgery. There are millions of children worldwide who do not have access to safe surgery for congenital anomalies and acquired conditions. As a result, many children in low-middle income countries live with chronic disability or die before they can access surgical care. In many cultures, congenital problems may also lead to social isolation or catastrophic health expenditure for families.
Many countries in sub-Saharan Africa have just a handful of qualified surgeons. For example, in Uganda, the country where I have most frequently worked, there are 4 general pediatric surgeons for a country of 39 million people. This would be the equivalent of 32 pediatric surgeons serving the entire United States. There are neighboring countries with no pediatric surgeons.
My work focuses on surgical capacity building - empowering and working with local surgeons in low-middle income countries to increase numbers of surgical providers, improve quality and increase surgical support services such as intensive care and anesthesia services. I have several ongoing projects regarding the burden of surgical disease for patients and their families in low-middle income countries, surgical training and capacity building.
Education and Training
- Pediatric Surgery Fellow, Pediatric Surgery, Yale University School of Medicine, 2011 - 2013
- General Surgery Resident, Surgery, Yale University School of Medicine, 2004 - 2011
- Ph.D., Boston University, 2004
- M.D., Boston University School of Medicine, 2004
- B.S., Boston University, 1997
In the News
- Class of 2022 SpotlightApril 26, 2022
- Cut Costs, Not Patients: The Promise of Laparoscopic Surgery in Global HealthNovember 15, 2021
- Students Win Innovation Prize for Improving Surgery on NewbornsMay 5, 2021
- Undergraduate Duke Engineering Design Teams Win National PrizesOctober 7, 2020
- What COVID-19 is teaching us about healthcare around the worldMay 20, 2020
- Hearing God's Voice In Our Academic LivesFebruary 14, 2020
- Fixing a Birth Defect That Shouldn't Be FatalOctober 11, 2019
- Duke, Ugandan surgeons collaborate to save babies with rare birth defect that shouldn’t be fatal, but often isJanuary 24, 2019